In the production of fruit salad, whole pieces of fruit are peeled, cored and cut to produce the desired product. For oranges, the desired end shape is a section or wedge without seeds and without the outer membrane or peel. Fruit wedges are desired because the fruit has a good appearance commercially. However, it is not uncommon to see orange slices, especially when the fruit is being cut by hand.
Because of the time and labor involved with cutting oranges into sections by hand, apparatuses and techniques were developed to automate or mechanize the fruit cutting or sectioning process, particularly for oranges. The techniques and associated apparatuses fall into two basic groupings; those where the fruit is first sectioned and then peeled and those where the fruit is first peeled and then sectioned.
An apparatus using the first technique is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,268, issued to Lin. In this apparatus, oranges are cut into wedges and then transported to the peeling device. The orange section is positioned in the peeling device such that a blade with a circular cross section can be forced into the orange section, separating the peel from the meat of the orange. In this apparatus, the means for sectioning was any one of the sectioning apparatuses known in the art. The presence of the peel on the fruit assures that the fruit remains intact and not broken before it is to be cut or sectioned.
There are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,825,628 and 1,825,629, both issued to Floyd et al, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,111,112, issued to Altman, apparatuses for sectioning the fruit after the peel or skin of the fruit has first been removed. These apparatuses use a plurality of spaced rotating blades to cut the fruit. Differences between the Floyd et al and Altman patents involve the manner in which the fruit is positioned for cutting and the cutting technique. Also in Floyd et al the fruit is cored and sectioned simultaneously, whereas in Altman the fruit has been cored before it is sectioned.
In the normal processing of oranges and other citrus fruit, approximately 5-10% of the fruit breaks into two or more segments. Breakage occurs from peeling the skin off and/or coring the fruit to remove the stem portion and the proximately located seeds. If the fruit is purchased in the peeled condition, the loading and unloading of the peeled fruit from the shipping containers, as well as the shipping itself, can cause the fruit to break into a plurality of segments.
In Floyd et al a whole piece of fruit is centered on a needle like projection so the fruit will be centered over the coring/cutting means. In Altman a cored and peeled piece of fruit slides down a spindle that centers the fruit for cutting. Neither of these apparatuses, however, can cut a piece of fruit that has been broken into a plurality of segments. Since these apparatuses cannot section broken fruit, the broken fruit must be separated out and either cut by hand or discarded. In either case, there are increased costs for hand cutting, for the purchase of additional fruit, and/or for the time delay.
The fruit product is typically not treated by heat (e.g., pasteurization) or treated using other techniques known for destroying bacteria that may be in food. Instead, the parts of the machines contacting the fruit are periodically washed down, usually more than once a day, to kill any bacteria (i.e., bacteria count below acceptable limits).
Care is also taken to assure that foreign matter does not intermingle with the fruit as it is being processed. If the fruit becomes contaminated with bacteria or foreign matter, the affected fruit (e.g., a run of fruit) must be discarded or destroyed. This results because as a practical matter there is no way to isolate and remove the contaminate from the processed fruit. As such, contamination of fruit is a significant concern because there is time lost and increased costs associated with the replacement of the destroyed fruit.
The Floyd et al and Altman apparatuses are constructed such that there is potential, to different degrees, for fruit contamination. Normal wear of drive belts and gears in these apparatuses can release foreign matter that can intermingle with the fruit as it is being cut. The periodic washing of the machine parts can also create conditions conducive to the production of foreign matter.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus that can section broken citrus fruit, such as oranges.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus that significantly reduces the potential for contamination of fruit by foreign matter.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus that can be easily adapted to section different sizes and types of fruit.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus that reduces the time, labor and costs required for sectioning fruit.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus that can section fruit that is peeled or unpeeled and/or which is cored or uncored.